Bottle ID: 415

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PEBBLE, GOURD WITH BROWN BUTTERFLY

Date: 1750-1820

Height: 59 mm

Nephrite, very well hollowed, the white pebble with patches of rich, russet skin, carved in the form of a gourd, with a spray of leafy branches in relief around the bottle, one leaf curling over the top through which the mouth is cut, a butterfly carved from the skin at the base.

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection no. 663
Snuff Bottles - The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Vol. 47, Beijing, 2003, p. 132, no. 190.
Sotheby's, New York, April 1, 2005, lot 390, Collection of Avrina Pugh.

Provenance:

Hugh Moss [HK] Ltd.
Beijing Hanhai Art Auction Corp., October 24, 1996, lot 167

Exhibited:

Annual Convention ICSBS New York, November 2013

This is one of the most spectacular of nephrite pebble snuff bottles, with its superb carving, even white color and imaginative use of the orange-russet skin. The gourd is a symbol of fertility, since a single vine produces a large number of fruit each year. The butterfly represents longevity based on a rebus sounding the same as the character meaning seventy or eighty years old.

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